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movie: Robert Louis Stevenson's St. Ives
Mar. 21st, 2007 10:50 pmHow much do I love this movie? I love it so much that I'm now on my second copy of it. St. Ives is a pure romantic adventure.
It's about Jacques St. Ives a French Captain in the Napoleonic wars who is "captured in battle"(or accidentally sent down a hill and into an enemy camp...whichever sounds better) and sent to a scottish prison. There, two important things happen. The first is that a young woman, Flora Gilchrist, recognizes a carving he makes as being that of a local nobleman who fled France during the revolution. The second is that Captain Chevener, who runs the prison, sees him talking to Flora and, as he has a crush on Flora himself, he asks Jacques to teach him, and the two men quickly become friends(not that that's about to stop Jacques from plotting his escape)
From that point own we have a romance of daring escapes, lost heirs, dashing heroes, plucky heroines, clever adventuresses, clandestine rescues, dastardly villains and romantic rescues. For all that it's light romantic escapism(and, aside from some nudity at the beginning, very clean) the movie "feels" real, and the setting, costume and acting are all great.
Jacques/Flora is one of my favorite kinds of pairings(that never happen in real life)...the womanizer who, the second he meets his true love, forgets all other women exist, even though he doesn't realize it. Flora is an orphan who lives with her "maiden aunt," Susan Gilchrist, who gave up a life of travel and adventure to take care of Flora after her brother's death. Flora is a proper young woman, but her aunt's stories leave her craving adventure, and she gets it when she meets Jacques. For her part, there's no feeling from Susan that she "sacrificed" anything...she had her life of adventure, she was needed, she gave it up, and she's perfectly happy and content living in Scotland and taking care of Flora. For all that he's a womanizer and a rogue, Jacques is also an all around nice and honorable guy and good friend. When he befriends Chevener, there's no duplicity or conniving on his part...Chevener is a nice, if somewhat simple guy who asks for aid and friendship, and Jacques gives it. He also doesn't really WANT to fall in love with Flora--he's a prisoner, and later and escapee, so any connection or contact with him would be bad for her. Unfortunately(or rather, fortunately) for him, Flora has other ideas and is determined to help him. I also like the secondary romantic pairing of Susan Gilchrist and Chevener. At first, he's smitten with Flora even though she's younger than him because, hey, young, clever, intelligent, pretty girl...and the only one around! But, once he spends some one-on-one time(and gets courting lessons from) Susan, he gets over that and is smitten with the RIGHT woman. She, for her part, finds his affableness and naivette, and honesty, endearing. And I suspect that her inner self is a control freak and sees an easy life ahead of her in that regard but hey, I doubt he'll mind.
I also just caved and ordered my Robin of Sherwood DVDs(yyyyeeeeesssss...my angsty bitter outlaws are on their way...) along with a couple anime. Because I have no self control.
It's about Jacques St. Ives a French Captain in the Napoleonic wars who is "captured in battle"(or accidentally sent down a hill and into an enemy camp...whichever sounds better) and sent to a scottish prison. There, two important things happen. The first is that a young woman, Flora Gilchrist, recognizes a carving he makes as being that of a local nobleman who fled France during the revolution. The second is that Captain Chevener, who runs the prison, sees him talking to Flora and, as he has a crush on Flora himself, he asks Jacques to teach him, and the two men quickly become friends(not that that's about to stop Jacques from plotting his escape)
From that point own we have a romance of daring escapes, lost heirs, dashing heroes, plucky heroines, clever adventuresses, clandestine rescues, dastardly villains and romantic rescues. For all that it's light romantic escapism(and, aside from some nudity at the beginning, very clean) the movie "feels" real, and the setting, costume and acting are all great.
Jacques/Flora is one of my favorite kinds of pairings(that never happen in real life)...the womanizer who, the second he meets his true love, forgets all other women exist, even though he doesn't realize it. Flora is an orphan who lives with her "maiden aunt," Susan Gilchrist, who gave up a life of travel and adventure to take care of Flora after her brother's death. Flora is a proper young woman, but her aunt's stories leave her craving adventure, and she gets it when she meets Jacques. For her part, there's no feeling from Susan that she "sacrificed" anything...she had her life of adventure, she was needed, she gave it up, and she's perfectly happy and content living in Scotland and taking care of Flora. For all that he's a womanizer and a rogue, Jacques is also an all around nice and honorable guy and good friend. When he befriends Chevener, there's no duplicity or conniving on his part...Chevener is a nice, if somewhat simple guy who asks for aid and friendship, and Jacques gives it. He also doesn't really WANT to fall in love with Flora--he's a prisoner, and later and escapee, so any connection or contact with him would be bad for her. Unfortunately(or rather, fortunately) for him, Flora has other ideas and is determined to help him. I also like the secondary romantic pairing of Susan Gilchrist and Chevener. At first, he's smitten with Flora even though she's younger than him because, hey, young, clever, intelligent, pretty girl...and the only one around! But, once he spends some one-on-one time(and gets courting lessons from) Susan, he gets over that and is smitten with the RIGHT woman. She, for her part, finds his affableness and naivette, and honesty, endearing. And I suspect that her inner self is a control freak and sees an easy life ahead of her in that regard but hey, I doubt he'll mind.
I also just caved and ordered my Robin of Sherwood DVDs(yyyyeeeeesssss...my angsty bitter outlaws are on their way...) along with a couple anime. Because I have no self control.
